First responders, (for example, police officers, fire fighters, and medical personnel) organizers, and others who respond to or are assigned to public events (for example, a public concert, a public conference, and the like) and incidents (for example, crime scenes, fires, and accident scenes) rely on audible commands and instructions (for example, via radio communication) and visual commands (for example, hand motions) to communicate with other professionals as well as the general public. However, situations with high noise, large crowds, and/or low visibility hinder the ability for such individuals to communicate using traditional communication techniques. Additionally, many current communication mechanisms do not allow for simultaneously broadcasting to larger groups of people (for example, fellow first responders and the general public) while engaging in private or restricted-group communications.
When groups of first responders work together (for example, in coordinated tactical situations), the group of first responders often rely on each other for accurate and timely information. While many mechanisms for covert communication (for example, hand signals, audio feeds, and the like) exist, they could be enhanced by additional communication mechanisms.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.